Nick Cousins breaks tie late as Ottawa Senators defeat Utah Mammoth 4-2 at Canadian Tire Centre

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

OTTAWA — Nick Cousins broke a tie with 2:18 left in the third period to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday. The late goal put Ottawa back in front and set up additional scoring in the closing seconds, with the Senators finishing the game with a two-goal margin.

Ottawa struck first on the power play at 5:27 of the opening period when Fabian Zetterlund scored. Stephen Halliday fed Zetterlund above the right face-off circle, and Zetterlund buried a wrist shot past Karel Vejmelka to give the Senators a 1-0 lead.

The Mammoth answered at 9:57 as Barrett Hayton did not score on that moment; instead, Clayton Keller tied the game 1-1 by skating in on the rush and knocking in his own rebound past Samuel Ersson. The goal levelled the contest early and kept Utah within striking distance after Ottawa’s first-period lead.

Ottawa regained the lead in the third period at 6:29 when Michael Amadio finished a Claude Giroux pass into an open net off a 3-on-1 rush to make it 2-1 for the Senators. The play extended Ottawa’s advantage and created separation before Utah could respond again.

Utah tied the game 2-2 at 9:53 when Hayton scored. He set up in the slot and tipped a Keller shot under Ersson’s left arm, restoring even strength after Ottawa’s lead in the third period.

With the game still level, Cousins scored with 2:18 remaining. Thomas Chabot fed a pass to Cousins at the top of the crease, where Cousins redirected the puck past Vejmelka to give Ottawa a 3-2 lead. Samuel Ersson continued to protect Ottawa’s net, finishing with 30 saves for the win.

Zetterlund also contributed offensively later in the game’s final stretch. He scored with one second remaining on the power play in the first period to open the scoring, and the Senators added insurance after Cousins’s go-ahead marker when Nick Cousins’s late lead was followed by an empty-net goal at 19:44 from Pinto to make it 4-2. Pinto’s empty-net tally sealed the final score.

The Senators received multi-point production from Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio, who each had a goal and an assist, along with Zetterlund scoring. Ottawa improved to a 11-6-1 record with the victory, and the win marked their second straight, as well as a run of three wins in their past four games.

For Utah, Keller finished with a goal and an assist, and Hayton added the other Mammoth goal in the 4-2 loss. Karel Vejmelka made 17 saves for Utah. The loss extended a recent skid for the Mammoth, who had lost two straight and entered the game as part of a six-game road trip.